A Disturbing Internet Marketing Trend
In the recent months, there have been a rash of new products that have come to the market (mainly advertised on Clickbank) that promise huge fortunes if followed properly.
What I am seeing is that they offer a 5, 6, 11 click type solutions meaning that if you follow a certain number of easy steps, you will turn on an unstoppable wave of traffic that will make you rich overnight.
I like to call these type of offers, “Ghost” offers. Here is why:
1. The sales letter is extremely hyped up with unrealistic income claims.
2. The sales letter gives no indication of what the product is or what it really does. Only that it will make you rich.
3. Product is relatively cheap (i.e $27-$37) and that is because they are ready to hit you with a gazillion upsells. (I wouldn’t sell a product for $27 if I knew it could show you how to make $50,000 in 14 days. Would you?)
4. They tell you everything the product is NOT, but not what the product is.
A vast majority of these products are useless and will do almost nothing for your online success. Many are just rehashed materials of older outdated methods.
It appears to me that a lot of these products are trying to prey on newbies who do not know any better.
What I find more disappointing is that a lot of respected marketers have started promoting these inferior products either to make a quick buck or to have the product owner “owe them one” for their upcoming launch.
I agree that in the JV world, there is a “I will rub your back, if you rub my back” mentality, but at what cost?
Screwing over your future prospects and customers by promoting such garbage?
Yesterday I sent out a message on Twitter about a case study that Harvard University did on how Oprah Winfrey grew her empire. You can access the case study by clicking on the link below and I highly recommend that you read it:
http://www.dailygood.org/more.php?n=4190
Oprah surely wouldn’t make the same mistake that these respected marketers are now making.
But then again, she has always looked out for the best interest of her readers, fans and customers.
No wonder she is extremely successful considering all the things she had going against her.
Do yourself a favour and keep your credit card in your wallet when you see these “Ghost” offers. You will probably be more irritated with the time lost when you realize what the product is and have to request a refund. The money you can get back, but not the time invested.
Comments?
Best wishes,
Gauher Chaudhry
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November 12, 2010
7:16 pm #comment-1
No one need be surprised by many “gurus” promoting crap if they have the key to the gurus act. These gurus lie for money. They also tell the truth for money, help people for money, and misdirect, frustrate and waste people’s time for the money too. They can be apparent benefactors, giving you lots of free value (because that leads to the money). This is great, because then they can be looked up to and persuade themselves that they’re great people who have helped change lives – all the while continuing to help hinder the lives of others. How much help would they have for you if there were no money to be made? They would pass by you on the street without a glance. They can be very plausible, particularly when they’re talking enthusiastically about content that actually works, but two breaths later they’ll tell you 5 lies in a row without blinking. It’s not that all their products are crap; it’s that, to them, quality and crap are a means to the same end.
And when enough people get seriously pissed and the heat finally goes up too high on them, they’ll make themselves into models of value and integrity – for the money.
November 12, 2010
8:19 pm #comment-2
I wanna be like Oprah when I grow up. She is truly an exemplary example of how we all should run our business.
I look forward to studying the next chapter of her life.
Thank you,
Elon Bomani
http://elonbomani.com
November 12, 2010
9:11 pm #comment-3
I’ve had bad experiences with a couple CB stocked products including Auto Blog System X and Affiliate X PRO. I never got some of OTOS products and the product support was nonexistent because the answers to my questions never addressed the actual point of my questions. I could not get straight answers. Finally I just gave up and asked for refunds.
I noticed that these products were offered by UK people. Thus, I was quite interested in Matt’s comment above stating that these guys are “all a “Inner Circle” group from the UK that must meet once a month for scones, and tea to create a scheme to hijack more money from desperate newbies that need to make cash and don’t know any better.” Based upon my experience, I find that a believable statement. I’d already decided that I will never buy any CB products offered by any UK person.
I don’t know why CB doesn’t ban these products to protect it’s credibility. I now have very little respect for CB.
The worst thing is that, like others have mentioned above, some IMs who I do respect have promoted these possibly fraudulent products as examples of how to make money quickly and for the long term.
It seems like there may be an opportunity here for someone to start a new CB type business that only stocks credible products.
November 12, 2010
9:49 pm #comment-4
Calling them “Ghost Sites” is too kind. They should be called what they are; “scams”. Whenever I see one I ask myself, “If I was making %100,000/mo, would I sell the software for $37.00?” The answer is always “scam”.
November 12, 2010
11:10 pm #comment-5
OMG you couldn’t be more right – clickbank seems to be “whore” of bullS**t easy money crap….you, mark ling and just a few others i will continue to follow – shawn casey is really bad at this….yea right 37 dollars 7 clicks instant auto pilot income – i think the real joke is the blogging to the bank first it was 27k then it went to as far as 23 million crap i cant even find his multi million dollar blog – these guys are done no one is gonna buy that crap anymore – if i see something that i might get a nugget i buy – as usual full of bs and return that’s the only save haven clickbank is good at refunds…..i dont see amish shaw doing this, frank kern a tiny bit – and jeff walker ??? he’s getting there…..
you need to help us newbies and create something really good like a membership site that teaches the right way. i have watched you for several month and even Phil M says your the real deal!!! his stuff is pretty good his free fridays are awesome content.
THIS SPELLS A HUGE OPP FOR U!!!! CALL IT NEWBIE INCUBATOR OR WHATEVER DO SOMETHING AND GIVE A LIFE LINE TO ALL OF US WHO HAVE BEEN LIED, RIPPED OFF ….O YA gota love justin blake – $600K a
month yea right!!!!
you rock
November 12, 2010
11:17 pm #comment-6
Gauher,
I fully agree with you. Some IM products being promoted on Clickbank are using highly dishonest and deceptive marketing techniques. As an example, I recently received a number of emails from some reasonably well known names in the industry promoting a new method to generate masses of cheap, high converting traffic. The sales page claimed that they had developed this new software that generated massive traffic without using the traditional sources like Adwords, Adcenter, SEO, blogging etc. The cost was about $77. Out of curiosity I made the purchase, and then discovered that this new software was in fact a simple keyword search tool for CPV (PPV). Then to make this work there was a string of upsells, including a basic PPV course, additional software and other tools, an advanced course, and a monthly membership.
There is no way a newbie could make a basic PPV keyword search tool generate massive traffic for them profitable without a lot of extra training. This is the deception. A newbie would have to buy the upsells to make the software work. And in fact Gauher, you and I know that generating massive PPV traffic is a quick way for newbies to go broke. This $77 “software” would end up costing several hundred dollars with all the upsells. A dishonest and deceptive promotion, and there are many others that use the same deceptive marketing practices. Caveat Emptor!
Trevor
November 13, 2010
2:51 am #comment-7
Hi Gauher
Even you are guilty of doing this.You promoted a guy called Matt for IM warfare program.And he basically looted more than thousand dollars from nearly 300 clients.And you have not even offered an apology to your customers.
November 13, 2010
8:40 am #comment-8
@Another Lee
That is very unfair, to blame UK marketers for these products. Sure some of them may be from there, but most UK marketers are good honest folks. A product should be judged on its merits, not by where a person came from.
That would be like basically refusing to buy a product by a person from Nigeria, just because we know how many scams come from there.
November 13, 2010
11:05 am #comment-9
Vivek: No I am not guilty of doing what I have posted in this blog post. I agree that promoting IM Warfare was a big mistake on my part, but there were no indications that Matt wasn’t going to live up to his expectations. He clearly outlines in his sales video what he was going to deliver so people knew what they were buying and what to expect. Matt had a stellar reputation online before this incident and many of us went off of this reputation when we decided to promote. I even paid the full $997 to join IM Warfare only to be left disappointed when Matt disappeared. I have already tried to reach out to the 7 out of 300 buyers who purchased through my affiliate link to return the affiliate commission I received and apologize. Once again we all make mistakes and this is something that I am trying to fix on my end. But like I said earlier, this has nothing to do with my blog post, which refers to “ghost” products being sold on Clickbank.
Thanks.
Gauher
November 13, 2010
11:07 am #comment-10
Phoenix. I don’t know how long you’ve been around the Internet but the Brits are recycling programs at an alarming rate.
When I requested a refund for one of their programs, I even mentioned to Clickbank that the product had been issued a year earlier under a different name.
The U.K., in the past, has produced some excellent and highly respected marketers but they seem to have spent their money, lost their edge and are throwing anything up to regain what they should have banked. Instead they seem to have splashed it around on fancy houses, vehicles, vacations and so forth expecting the bubble to never burst.
A few have made their money, quietly invested it and disappeared from the scene preferring to wisely work away at their Internet interests.
No one is knocking the Brits, I’m one, but I’m not too blind to see how the are uniting to rip the heart out of people who can ill afford to purchase their useless products.
The unemployed. People losing their homes but trying desperately to survive and provide for their families. The sick. Its a cruel world but made worse by shysters.
November 13, 2010
1:25 pm #comment-11
Hey Gauher,
It’s little ‘ol me again.
I thought I’d take a quick peek and see what other responses you’ve gotten on this post and, well, it looks like you’ve certainly got a wide variety of comments, huh?
After going over the majority of these comments, I’m starting to see a trend developing, and hopefully, your readers have as well…
See if this more or less sums it up…
“I’m a Newbie and I’m tired of taking it in the shorts from every Tom, Dick, and Guru who supposedly made millions in his underwear. All I wanted was for someone to show me how to supplement my income using the internet. I’ve got family and bills to pay just like anybody else and I’m fed up with being lied to. What now?”
… Indeed, “What Now?”
Some feel that a “New” Clickbank-ish venue to purchase only “The Good Stuff” would be the answer.
Not bad, but I don’t think that it’ll happen any time soon. Especially considering the cost to put a platform of that sort into existence.
That, and who is going to go and actually take the time to put any of these “Products” to the test and, only then, offer them for sale?
I have a PARTIAL answer…
Let’s try to use something that we all should have at least a little of… Common Sense.
If it looks like a dog, barks like a dog, and wags it’s tail like a dog, chances are it’s NOT A DUCK.
If the product being promoted claims to be able to make you millions overnight (and we’ve all seen way too many of these), instead of whipping out the plastic and hoping for a miracle, why not just do what folks in the “Real Estate” field have been doing for years… Take A Deeper Look At It. Due Diligence. A quick search for the item in question will generally offer up quite a few “Reviews”.
Once you manage to wade through all of the Hyped-Up affiliate sites, which generally only say the exact same thing as the sales page, you should come across one or two that have actually used the product. If these reviews still don’t give you the answers that you’re looking for, maybe you’re “Barking up the WRONG TREE”.
Another thing I feel obligated to add here is “Don’t sell yourself short”. I read one of the comments above saying that as of the first of the year he was tossing in the towel. Very sad indeed.
I can understand his position though. I’ve only been ACTIVELY doing this since April of this year. I say “ACTIVELY” because prior to that, with all the mish-mash of crap out there, I wasn’t sure what to do.
I found some things that worked, others that worked really well, and a whole bunch of stuff that wasn’t worth the “Cyber Paper” it was written on.
There’s good teaching from folks who have actually done the things that they’re promoting, and continue to do those same things to this day. THESE are the folks that you MUST track down to learn from if you’re just starting out. But, again, use COMMON SENSE. It’s free and it’ll take you a long way towards your goals.
…END OF SOAPBOX SPEECH.
Gauher, stay frosty and keep up the great work.
Why?…
… Because …
… Ed Says …
November 13, 2010
2:34 pm #comment-12
Another marketer posted his thoughts on this same subject last month which set off others to do the same.
It appears that most most of these knuckleheads come from the UK. Why doesn’t the FTC come reighning down on these ass wipes or Clickbank for that matter.
Folks ….. stay away from these putzes, even some of the better known putzes for promoting this:
November 15, 2010
11:25 am #comment-13
Hello G Is that pop up window the same guide as the 89 page one you released before.Loved the other one.Just wondering if its revised or the same.
Guess I could read it.
Make more room in your Seminar.
November 16, 2010
10:49 am #comment-14
Hate: Sales pages with video only. Give me some print to read, I can read a lot faster than it takes to download a video that keeps refreshing all the time.
Sales pages that want you to register for their mailing list before you know what they are selling.
Free offers that are worthless.
Webinars that are total sales pitches instead of the training they promised. (having said that) there has been several very good webinars lately)
mailing lists I joined and now get 1 or more emails a day from. One I know of sends 2-3 a day. I wonder how many subscribers they have left now.
I’ve seen a “new” release on how to use Google Maps and it wasn’t even updated to the changes Google made last moth. As stated above “recycled products”
November 18, 2010
5:43 pm #comment-15
Gauher, here is what I posted on Neil Shearing’s blog. However, you can be Robin Hood if you’d like.
Here is the way I see it.
If the well established known marketers, such as yourself, Joel Comm or others have an issues with these frauds then call them out. Start a blog category or blog called “IM Scams” or something thereof.
Here’s why. Just talking about it does nothing except maybe separate yourself from them in the IM world among your readers. However, the well known marketer that takes action, calls them out, becomes the whistle blower not only shows that he or she has the balls but also establishes themselves above those who only discuss the problem.
That person will become the “hero”, the Robin Hood to the many who want to succeed in IM but get all confused in everything thrown at them. He/She will get a ton of quiet “high fives” from the folks at their computers and will carried around the “field on the shoulders” of those who have developed great respect and admiration for stepping forward.
It’s not only the Clickbank frauds that I have no respect for, it’s also the known marketers, such as Russel Brunson and Anik Singal who market this garbage to their lists. They haven’t tested the product. They just get a notification that this product was released on Clickbank, sign up as an affiliate and send the email to their lists as if this is the greatest thing since sliced bread.
Why do they need to do this? I thought they were millionaires who have spent years earning the trust of their subscribers by putting out respectable products and services.
The trust is shot now, they are what I call marketing whores now and I don’t give a flying f**k what they try to sell me. I simply unsubscribe and make posts like this when asked.
Neil, you asked. I answered.
You know what else I think, Dr. Neil “Robin Hood” Shearing has a nice sound to it. What do you think.
November 19, 2010
7:45 pm #comment-16
Gauher:
I have always been amazed at the number of marketers who will promote a product to their list without reviewing it first. I believe a big reason for this is because many list marketers do not make much money outside of their email promotions. Therefore, they need to constantly promote offers to their list in order to put bread and butter on the table.
Churning and burning a list without providing meaningful value to the list is a business model that will fall like a house of cards. It may not happen in the short-term, but eventually it will fall.
Thanks for the post, Gauher. I appreciate your thoughts on this subject.
Jon
November 29, 2010
9:49 am #comment-17
One thing that I have noticed in recent trends that really got under my skin is that every product is push button this push button that. It’s also marketed to everyone even if they don’t need it they are pushing the emotional triggers that make people to buy like zombies.
This just not the way to do business. It’s rare that I buy any product anymore from the so called “gurus” because of these practices.
This post only validates my thought process now
Thanks Gauher
Mario
November 30, 2010
2:44 pm #comment-18
Excellent post Gauher!
I am glad someone is finally saying something about this.
There is no future in this and it destroys the space for the rest of us…
Agree with you Gauher, and thanks for saying it out loud.
December 1, 2010
10:42 pm #comment-19
Damn gauher, you took the words out of my mouth! Agree 100%, This time i was in a internet Marketing seminar eating lunch with some good marketers, then this fat sucker aproches me, he wanted to do a JV with me, he told me that he would paid me $4,500 Cash if i promoted his stuff to my list. My Bullshit meter was ringing from the start, Then i ask a question.
1:How is your relationships with your custumers?
He lied and use shome shady terms…
then I told him this…
I will not crew my custumers, custumers of our comunity with your garbage!I told him to piss off or i would knock his F****** TEETH out! then he gave me a bad look and went away…
Why is clickbank allowing these shitbags promote this crap?
im a custumer of cpaquantum, i like your product! No force upsells, No hype! plain and simple with a lot of valuable content!
December 1, 2010
10:51 pm #comment-20
One more thing, amish shah bitches and wines about the fake “Frogs”!!! And what do fake blogs promote???
ACAI,TEETHWHITENING,ABS,COCKSIZE,ETC…
Then you go to amish shah and jay styles cpa network and you see all this acai loseweight shit all over!!!
So…..im a little confuse mr.amish shah!
He yust wants to be seen as a good guy…
December 19, 2010
11:12 pm #comment-21
It’s those idiots at clickbank letting this trash go on their network. There just as much to blame as the greedy affiliates. What happened to clickbank? Over the years they have now morphed to the mecca of the most ridiculous offers on the internet. I love the names of these crap products, killer, slayer, destroyer. Anyway WC Fields said it best.
February 12, 2011
6:45 am #comment-22
Hi,
Very great info on Ghost offers that should be watched out. Thanks for the post it really helps to wake up a lot of people.
Chris
February 28, 2011
4:13 pm #comment-23
I have a huge amount of respect for you Gauher! But to tell you the truth I have lost some of that! You are very guilty of promoting the “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch your’s” approach! The very nature of this thread is about avoiding “hypee” sales letters that tell you make millions without work but don’t tell you what it is! Well why are you promoting http://www.profitmonarch.com/index.php?hop=gauher2 If that isn’t hype then I don’t know what is! I will still follow you as you do give out good stuff. But however I am not a newbie anymore and I don’t fall for the BS! Have you used Profit Monarch to make money? All the best. Michael
March 1, 2011
11:00 am #comment-24
Hi Michael, Sorry but Paul’s sales letter does not follow the typical blind sales copy. He clearly indicates what each software program does on his sales letter. From his salesl etter… “All that is needed is just 15 minutes of your time each day to generate as much as $200, $500 or even $1000 or more each month on 100% autopilot!”.. so I am not sure where he says on the sales letter that you will make millions. $1,000 per month is quite reasonable. I have used Profit Monarch AND made money with it although I used it for a different purpose. Trust me that I did go through the program before I decided to promote it. If this was not worth $37, respectable guys like Mark Ling, Adam Short and Michael Rasmussen would not have promoted. Thanks for your feedback.
-Gauher
March 1, 2011
11:58 am #comment-25
Gauher,
Many thanks for clearing that up. But the headline is still I think “hypee!” Like most peope like you said in your article I am fed up with the constant hype and promotion and am on very few lists anymore. But yours is one I do subscribe to and am undecided whether to pursue other ventures like this or stick to PPC. Regards Michael.
Does your PPC course work in the UK as I am in a very competetive market running PPC campaigns but only in the UK. Thanks
March 2, 2011
12:30 am #comment-26
Hi Michael – Yes I agree the sales letter was pushing the hypey edge. All my courses work in the UK market.
July 2, 2011
2:06 pm #comment-27
Well, this trend has to stop ! the whole IM market is guilty. Vendors are guilty of riding the “soft spots” of newbies and putting up these hypie sales letters and crappy products, Clickbank is guilty of accepting these products blindly into their marketplace without even taking a look at them, and the cutomers are guilty of being naiive enough to fall into this trap. And the only savior is Clickbak’s refund policy. Sad !
If only one of these links would be broken, the trend would stop :
So its either marketers stop pushing these products, or customers stop buying… Period ! And Clickbank has to upgrade its product acceptance policies if it wants to survive…..
Stop believing this “push button, gazzilion making” crap, there are no push buttons and IM is sometime a tedious work, although I must say there are some software tools that make it a lot easier. These software tools typically do not come with a hypey sales letter. They don’t need it